Rick & Morty: Season 3 Opening Scene Released Online

So when’s season 3 coming out? That’s been the refrain for Rick and Morty fans from the moment the second season of the hit Adult Swim series ended back in 2015. The show inspires a rabid fanaticism in its fans with its smartly subversive humor and skewering of science fiction tropes, and it has become one of the most popular shows during Cartoon Network’s block of grown up programming in addition to becoming a sensation across the internet.

But the question still remains. Creators Dan Harmon (Community) and Justin Roiland (Adventure Time) have been teasing the new season since the second season came to a close. Adult Swim had previously announced that we could expect new episodes by the end of last year, but here we are, in a new year without any new Rick and Morty. Recently, Harmon announced that they were having trouble writing the new season and largely took the blame for the delays. Still, there have been some developments that keep fans hopeful. A new viral site was launched to take fans deeper into the world of Rick and Morty, leading to speculation that the new season was just around the bend. Now, with no release date yet in sight, we’ve got more reason to be hopeful.

Adult Swim Australia posted the first scene of the new season online, giving fans a small taste of what to expect when season 3 begins. The clip showcases all the irreverent humor Rick and Morty fans have come to expect from the series, and while it doesn’t answer any of the lingering questions from last season — like how’s Rick going to get out of this one — you should still give it a quick watch before we continue.

Did you watch it? If you did, you have now been subjected to what might be the greatest Rickroll of all time. Like all great Rickrolls (insomuch as great Rickrolls are a thing that can exist) this one comes out of nowhere, and if you’re not paying attention you won’t be sure exactly what’s happening to you. Instead of using the now infamous Rick Astley song, this video is edited together using dialogue from the first two seasons of Rick and Morty, almost serving as a hilarious reminder of what’s come before now.

In a way, this is a pitch perfect response from Rick and Morty to questions regarding the new season. Rick and Morty works so well partly because its creators take their time to craft the best episodes they can, and that takes time. At the end of the day, as much as it would be nice if new episodes of Rick and Morty were currently airing, it’s better to wait until everything is just right rather than release a subpar season that falls short of the quality we’ve come to expect from the series.

It’s also a perfect representation of the kind of bait and switch humor used so frequently in the series. Rick and Morty isn’t afraid to antagonize the fans a little bit in the name of a good joke, and this is a great joke, once the shock of being Rickrolled in 2017 finally wears off. Even without a new season announcement, it’s nice to see the show keeping their sense of humor about everything, which will hopefully translate into the new season whenever that finally drops.